Plan International Ghana, a child centered non-governmental organization and the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) on Wednesday donated various sums of money, totaling GH¢20,000.00 towards the 23rd Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Awards.
The Public Relations Officer of the GSA, Kojo Frimpong, presented a cheque for GH¢5,000.00 to the GJA President, Roland Affail Monney, for the Best Reporter in the Maritime Category.
Acting Country Director, Plan International Ghana, Ahensah Asum-Kwarteng, also presented a cheque for GH¢15,000.00 to GJA Treasurer, Mrs. Audrey Francesca Dekalu, for the Best Child Right Reporter Award.
Mr. Monney on behalf of the Association expressed gratitude to the two organizations for their kind gesture.
He noted that this year’s awards would be unprecedented as far as the history of the event was concerned.
He said the best profession in the world was not priesthood, medicine or engineering; stating that according to Gabriel García Márquez the best profession in the world was journalism.
“So if journalism is the best profession in the world, it is time to reason that journalists are given the best of support, the best pay packages and the best conditions to work.”
He noted that on the contrary, the conditions under which journalists worked were poor, to say the very least.
Mr. Monney noted that there would be confusion in the country if journalists decided to have a total news blackout.
He said the award ceremony, which is slated for October 27, will honour journalists who have distinguished themselves in their line of duty in the year 2017.
He said the packages for the awardees would reflect their contributions towards national development.
Mr. Sum-Kwarteng said Plan International had been working in Ghana to support children, particularly the most marginalized to exercise their rights.
He said there were lots of issues affecting children (especially the girl child), which the media could help expose to the public for redress; stating that the media must also begin to highlight positive development concerning children.
He urged the media to champion the course of the voiceless, the poor and the marginalized in society.
Mr. Frimpong said over the years, the GSA had been organizing training workshops for media professionals on the maritime industry; however, this year, Management decided to be part of the GJA Awards system.
“We believe that hard work needs to be rewarded and if journalists have done well, they need to be rewarded.”
